


Running Out of Breath

by Aladin_Sane



Category: Baby Driver (2017)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, No Romance, No Smut, Transgender, just some support from friends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 11:46:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11417304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aladin_Sane/pseuds/Aladin_Sane
Summary: Baby wasn't really prepared to get out and run that day.





	Running Out of Breath

**Author's Note:**

> As a transgender guy, this prompt has a special place in my heart. 
> 
> Thanks, Beth for recommending it!

Baby was, generally, very responsible about his transition. He gave himself his shots every two weeks, he ate a high protein diet to boost testosterone naturally, and he made a point to bind safely. Most importantly, he never exercised in a binder and he never wore it for longer than 8 hours. 

Not until today at least. 

Technically, it wasn't his fault the car crashed. Bats had clipped the side of his head with a gun while turning to shoot a cop, and even though Baby wasn't distracted for long it was just long enough for another car to knock them to the side of the road. The reputation he'd worked so hard to build over the years died as the getaway car skidded into a parked minivan. 

His head hit the steering wheel when the two cars collided, leaving him dazed for a few seconds. By the time he got himself back in the moment, he knew he was in trouble. The alarm on his phone that reminded him to take off his binder was buzzing in his pocket, and the car was totaled. He tried to turn it back on anyways, just to be sure. 

"Baby, we gotta run." Darling had opened up the driver's side door and was now pulling at his arm. 

"But, I can't." He didn't know what to say. This was a new binder. Maybe an older, more stretched out one would give him enough room to breathe, but this one was new. Brand new.

"C'mon, Baby!" Now Bats was at the door too, a duffel bag of money slung over his shoulder. Fuck, there was no way out of this. 

Baby unbuckled his seat belt and took off after Buddy. Picking a song for a foot chase was a whole lot harder than picking a song for a car chase. He managed well enough at first, but very quickly he realized that he wouldn't be able to run far. The blood in his head pounded from lack of oxygen along with the beat of his song and the sound of his feet hitting the pavement. Was his head swelling? He felt like his head was swelling up like a balloon. 

"Left," he panted to Darling. 

"Left!" she shouted, and they all turned the first corner without question. Apparently Doc's team bonding exercises really had built some trust between them. 

Baby knew he didn't have much left in him. His feet were stumbling wildly from being lightheaded. He tried to suck in a deep breath, only to find that his lungs refused to fill to capacity. That wasn't a good sign. 

"Darling, I'm gonna..." His vision started closing in, his legs started to wobble like a newborn foul. When he felt himself falling, he was clicking frantically through his ipod, trying to find a good song to die to. 

He could hear Darling screaming his name as he hit the sidewalk face first, wrecking his ipod in the process. It was stuck on "Take on Me" by a-ha. 

"What a fucking stupid song to die to," he thought before completely passing out. 

************

He woke up on the floor of the safe house. Not dead, that was a good start. His ears were ringing, so that kinda sucked, but he was more used to that than not. It was still daylight out, another good sign. Not necessarily the same day, but it was better than laying there in the dark. 

"Is he really that outta shape, Doc? Does he have asthma or something?" Buddy was asking. Baby couldn't see anybody else, but it sounded like they were pretty close. 

"No, no, his medical records are fine. And I've seen him run a mile in a little under five minutes, he should've been fine." 

He sat up and couldn't stop the pained cry that escaped him. His ribs were fucked. They'd ached before, especially when he first started binding, but nothing like this. Horrid visions of broken ribs and twisted torsos started shooting through his mind at the speed of light. 

"Baby? Thank God you're awake! What happened?" Darling was next to him in a heartbeat, her hand behind his back helping him lay back down. 

He tried to say something, only to have his lungs start burning terribly. They hadn't taken it off yet. They still didn't know, which meant Baby would have to be awake when they all realized he was trans. He'd almost rather they just left him for the cops. Frantically, he pulled down the shoulder of his t-shirt to reveal the peach colored strap of his binder. He felt like a fish out of water, both physically and socially. 

"What is that?" Buddy asked, looking to Doc for answers. 

"Jesus, what a dumbass," Bats said. He grabbed a knife off the table and dropped down next to Baby. "Oh, hush," he said when he noticed the fear in his eyes. Quickly but with care, he cut off Baby's shirt before slicing open the thick binder. 

As soon as it opened, Baby rolled onto his side and curled into the fetal position. He coughed and coughed, until his eyes watered and his body was shaking from exhaustion. This was not how he planned this day going in his head. 

"Baby, do you mind telling us what's going on?" Doc asked. He had that same bored drawl to his voice, but his tone was slightly different. Slightly more worried. 

Baby sat up, slowly this time, and zipped up his jacket to cover his bare chest. His ribs still ached something awful, but he could breathe now. Baby steps. No pun intended. 

He sighed to himself and rubbed at his eyes before turning to everyone. "I'm, uh, that was a binder. To hide my breasts." He looked up at Doc, eyes squinted like he was looking at the sun and his head curved in like he expected to be hit. "I wear it because I'm, uh, I'm trans?"

Honestly, he was expecting outrage. Maybe to get kicked out of the group permanently, maybe killed for lying. Preparing for the worst meant that when the something slightly less terrible happened, he could be pleasantly surprised. It was a good system. But all he got back were blank stares. 

Bats cleared his throat and turned to face Doc too. "I thought it was your job to know everything." 

"I assumed you had a testosterone deficiency when I saw you'd been prescribed the injections. Low sex drive or something." Doc looked a little embarrassed at his mistake. He couldn't help but think that if he'd figured it out sooner Baby wouldn't have been in as much danger. 

The look on his face made Baby's stomach churn. The last thing he wanted was Doc feeling like he'd done something wrong. "I'm sorry."

"No, no! Don't be sorry, Baby. You're still the handsomest boy in town." Darling kissed his cheek and patted his knee. "Well, besides my Buddy of course."

"Yeah, don't worry about it, kid. Just, don't do that again," Buddy said, a patient smile on his face. 

"You really are stupid though. What were you thinking? How long did you have this on?" Bats asked. 

Baby checked his phone. "9 hours, apparently. But the last one wasn't my fault."

"Alright, from now on, you gotta put on a new one right before every job. And make it one you can run in. You're so cocky, think you ain't ever gonna have to run just because you know how to drift." Bats faked like he was gonna punch Baby, but ended up just ruffling his hair. 

Things were gonna be okay. His darkest secret had been revealed, and it hadn't destroyed the team. Baby couldn't stop smiling while they divided up the day's haul.


End file.
